[Editors note: I would like to preface this entire post  by saying that I just finished a heartbreaking novel about the Holocaust and nothing puts family into perspective quite like the Holocaust]

I have, what I would consider, to be a high percentage of friends whose biological parents are still together. I think this is weird, I mean even my husband’s parents are still on their first marriage.  Personally I find it reassuring, I didn’t wait until I was 30-ah hem-something to get married if I didn’t want to be sure that I was mature enough to make the right decision. But, at the same time, I kind of feel bad for people who have limited choices of relatives to spend time with.

Thanks to my parents and their inability to stay together I have a surplus of factions within my immediate family with whom I can choose to hang out. I have step, half & whole siblings, I have parents, step parents and that woman who most recently married my father. In short, I have options and options are pretty cool.

I know it’s not possible for everyone to get along all the time and quite frankly if it wasn’t for an excess of booze I might not have half the close relationships I have. (Thanks booze!) What’s the point I am trying to make? That life is short and bad things happen to good people and if we don’t take the time to cherish the relationships that we have, however tenuous and long distanced they are than we are really short-changing ourselves.

I certainly should never be used as an example of good decision-making or righteousness but what I learned from both last week and German occupied France is that you need to hold onto what is important, you need to pass as much of that on to your children as possible and so you can experience stuff like this: